The triangles for each Bloom blanket are cut using computer numerically controlled (CNC) fabric routers to Costanzo's digital design.

The pieces are sewn together by a team of seamstresses, who spend five hours stitching the triangles along their edges into tetrahedrons and then combining the 3D shapes into a larger sheet.

"Bloom blanket is a design project rooted in the exploration of relationships between memory, art and maths," said the designer. "Geometrist Ron Resch's research into tessellations in the 1960s influenced me to craft a blanket that was not only visually intriguing, but also incredibly warm and soft to the touch, enveloping you with its continuous geometry."

Available in grey or white, the textile is composed of a 20 per cent cashmere and 80 per cent wool blend.

The material is custom-woven to Costanzo's specifications at a factory in Prato, Italy – an area renowned for cashmere, a soft fibre woven from goat hair.

"The blanket is a representation of an intricate three-dimensional origami tessellation pattern," Costanzo told Dezeen. "As a child I was drawn to geometric shapes and spent my playtime experimenting with origami, but it was only while studying at MIT that I realised how intricate the study of geometry could become."

"I learned how to apply this way of thinking to engineering, but I didn't want to stop there," she added. "I wondered how it could be applied to design."

The Bloom blanket was successfully funded on Kickstarter earlier this year and production will now begin in Poland.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/03/29/wool-pyramids-origami-inspired-bloom-blanket-bianca-cheng-costanzo/feed/2Mia Cinelli's limb-like weighted blanket is designed to ease feelings of griefhttp://www.dezeen.com/2015/02/03/mia-cinelli-weight-limb-like-weighted-blanket-hug-help-grieving-death/
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/02/03/mia-cinelli-weight-limb-like-weighted-blanket-hug-help-grieving-death/#commentsTue, 03 Feb 2015 18:48:08 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=634159Following the death of a loved one, American artist and designer Mia Cinelli created this "weighted comfort object" that could simulate the feeling of being hugged. Mia Cinelli realised she missed the embraces she received from her fiancé's father, so designed The Weight to help remind her of him. Related story: Mark the last veil […]

"My fiancé's father was a man who showed his love in physical ways – kisses and bear-hugs were a common greeting," she told Dezeen.

The Weight is a six-pound hand-quilted fleece blanket filled with poly-pellets, that has arms and hands attached to either side, enabling it to wrap around the user's body and entwine with their fingers.

Weighted blankets are already used in occupational therapy to relieve the stress, anxiety and lack of focus often associated with Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Sensory Processing Disorder. The feeling of pressure on the body created by the blanket is believed to create a relaxing effect. Adding hands was Cinelli's idea.

"When he passed away, I was left with a void of where his large personality had been," Cinelli said. "I wanted to feel his presence, so I made a hand to hold."

Despite initial scepticism, Cinelli's fiancé was eventually convinced. "I'd bring rice-filled prototypes into our living room, drape them around him and ask him how he felt while he was wearing them and after he took them off," said the designer.

"Its use imitates an intimate gesture, reminiscent of a hug from behind," Cinelli added. "When you feel relaxed and take the weight off, you feel lighter – both physically and in spirit."

The designer admits the project might be disconcerting for some: "I have seen it tagged as #creepy online, and the hands are a bit odd. When I finished it, I couldn't tell if it was too weird or just right, but I think all of my best work falls into that area."

The Weight is currently a hand-made prototype and is being exhibited while Cinelli contemplates its future.

"I needed to make it for me first, and now I need to figure out who to make it for next," she said.

"Is it a custom-made cultural object kept by grieving loved ones? Does it become standard equipment of funeral home directors? Is it an elite object of comfort intertwined with high fashion, or is it sold next to heating pads in pharmacies?"

Cinelli's previous projects include The Loop, an 18-foot circular tube pillow designed to provide company for lone sleepers.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2015/02/03/mia-cinelli-weight-limb-like-weighted-blanket-hug-help-grieving-death/feed/3Blankets by Snøhetta for Røros Tweedhttp://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/03/blankets-by-snohetta-for-roros-tweed/
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/03/blankets-by-snohetta-for-roros-tweed/#commentsMon, 03 Jun 2013 16:30:49 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=322306Product news: Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta showed this range of blankets in New York. Snøhetta first presented the Mountain Fold blankets as prototypes for traditional Norwegian firm Røros Tweed tweed last year, but they're now going into production alongside two new designs by the firm called Color Noise and Islandskap. The Mountain Fold design features […]

Snøhetta first presented the Mountain Fold blankets as prototypes for traditional Norwegian firm Røros Tweed tweed last year, but they're now going into production alongside two new designs by the firm called Color Noise and Islandskap.

The Mountain Fold design features a seemingly abstract geometric design, but is meant to represent the Snøhetta mountain - after which the firm was named - when folded in a certain way.

It comes in six different colours representing six different architecture projects by the studio.

Islandskap blanket

The two new designs were chosen from an internal competition between all the company's designers.

At the 2013 ICFF, Røros Tweed, the traditional Norwegian Blanket manufacturer, announced the American launch of several new blankets designed by Snøhetta: the Snøhetta Mountain Fold, Color Noise, and Islandskap.

The first design was announced last year when the Mountain Fold was commissioned by Paul Makovsky of Metropolis Magazine, curator of the Inside Norway booth at ICFF 2012. The design was produced as a prototype but due to the overwhelmingly positive response, it will be available at American retailers in August 2013.

By following the strict graphic pattern, the Snøhetta Mountain Fold can be folded into the profile of the mountain Snøhetta at Dovre in Norway, the namesake of the architecture and design studio. The blanket is available in 6 different colors representing 6 different architectural projects designed by Snøhetta.

Each blanket can be also arranged or folded in a different way, presenting itself with different amount of pattern and color, and may serve as a blanket pillow due to its puffy nature when folded.

Following the success of the Mountain Fold blanket, Snøhetta has developed two additional designs, both representing a graphic presentation of architecture in abstract forms. Islandskap and Color Noise were developed after Snøhetta held an internal contest amongst all of its designers from New York and Oslo.

Retailers carrying the Røros Tweed brand include Anthropologie, Design Within Reach and Scandinavian House. Røros Tweed blankets are made out of 100% Norwegian high quality sheep wool.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2013/06/03/blankets-by-snohetta-for-roros-tweed/feed/3Seal Pelt Remix by Eley Kishimoto and Vík Prjónsdóttirhttp://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/20/seal-pelt-remix-by-eley-kishimoto-and-vik-prjonsdottir/
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/20/seal-pelt-remix-by-eley-kishimoto-and-vik-prjonsdottir/#commentsWed, 20 Mar 2013 08:00:24 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=300009Product news: London print designers Eley Kishimoto teamed up with Icelandic design collective Vík Prjónsdóttir for DesignMarch in Reykjavík last week, where they presented a seal-shaped blanket inspired by an Icelandic folk tale. Above: photograph c/o Eley Kishimoto First designed by Vík Prjónsdóttir in 2005, the Seal Pelt was designed in reference to the mythical […]

Product news: London print designers Eley Kishimoto teamed up with Icelandic design collective Vík Prjónsdóttir for DesignMarch in Reykjavík last week, where they presented a seal-shaped blanket inspired by an Icelandic folk tale.

Above: photograph c/o Eley Kishimoto

First designed by Vík Prjónsdóttir in 2005, the Seal Pelt was designed in reference to the mythical story about a woman who has to choose between being a seal or a human and is transformed after clothing herself with a seal's skin and fur.

The "remixed" Seal Pelt features a pattern of squirrel graphics by Eley Kishimoto. Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir of Vík Prjónsdóttir told Dezeen: "The Seal Pelt has now been united with the great squirrel. These two animals, that until now have not been in a close relationship, will from this moment be knitted together."

Above: Papageno

The designers presented the Seal Pelt at the Culture House during DesignMarch. They also showed Papageno, a stripy blanket inspired by the colourful feathers of a parrot, which is the latest addition in the bird collection. Other blankets in this range include The Raven, The Flamingo and The Swan.

In the Icelandic myths, seals are believed to be condemned by humans. One ancient story from the south of Iceland is about a farmer who early one morning finds a seal pelt laying on the beach. In a cave nearby, he hears voices and music. He takes the seal pelt home and hides it in a wooden chest. Few days later he returns to the beach and finds a crying, naked, young woman sitting on a rock. He brings her to his house where she stays, but he never tells her about the pelt. As time goes by they get married and have children. But the young woman is restless and often stares quietly out of the window at the ocean. One day when the farmer goes fishing, his wife accidentally finds the key of the chest, opens it and discovers the missing pelt. She takes leave of her children, puts the pelt on and before she dives into the ocean she says: “ I am vary anxious, with seven children on land an seven in the sea.” She never comes back but the farmer misses her terribly. Later when he goes fishing there often is a seal near his boat and its eyes are filled with tears. It is said that the farmer becomes a very lucky fisherman. And when his children play at the beach there often is a seal swimming close to land. Sometimes it brings them beautiful stones and colorful fishes. But their mother never returned.

Papageno

The Papageno is a new blanket from Vík Prjónsdóttir and a part of the evolving bird blanket collection. The birds that have until now been part of the Vík Prjónsdóttir collection are the Sea Eagle and the Raven, both of these birds play a big role in the wildlife of Iceland. The Papageno represents the parrot, a bird that is very exciting and exotic in the eyes of Vík Prjónsdóttir.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2013/03/20/seal-pelt-remix-by-eley-kishimoto-and-vik-prjonsdottir/feed/3Bunad Blankets by Andreas Engesvikhttp://www.dezeen.com/2012/12/02/bunad-blanket-series-by-andreas-engesvik/
http://www.dezeen.com/2012/12/02/bunad-blanket-series-by-andreas-engesvik/#commentsSun, 02 Dec 2012 01:00:46 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=269574Product news: Oslo designer Andreas Engesvik has created a series of blankets inspired by the textiles of Norwegian folk costumes. Bunader are traditional costumes with roots in rural clothes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and Andreas Engesvik worked with Norwegian manufacturer Mandal Veveri to make the wool Bunad Blankets. They're based on motifs from five […]

Product news: Oslo designer Andreas Engesvik has created a series of blankets inspired by the textiles of Norwegian folk costumes.

Bunader are traditional costumes with roots in rural clothes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and Andreas Engesvik worked with Norwegian manufacturer Mandal Veveri to make the wool Bunad Blankets.

They're based on motifs from five different regions in Norway: Setesdal, Nordland, Fusa, Bringeklut and Sunnmøre. "Mandal Veveri also had the complete recipes for all types of bunads, which made it easy for us to be exact," Engesvik told Dezeen.

"All the colours are exactly the same as on the bunads," he continued. "We did a lot of fine tuning of course, and we had to choose eight colours for every blanket, as this is the limit for the Jacquard machine."

"The bunad is one of the most visible and known traditions in Norwegian cultural heritage; the garment is a significant cultural carrier and is central to the passing on of Norwegian handicraft traditions," he added.

Andreas Engesvik is an alumni of the University of Bergen and the National College of Art and Design Norway. He was co-founder of Norway Says in 2000 and founded his own studio in Oslo in 2009. He has previously featured on Dezeen with his coloured screens in collaboration with Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken.

Bunad Blankets is a series of blankets launched during the London Design Festival, September 2012. The first Bunad Blankets we will show are based on bunad motifs from five different regions in Norway; Setesdal, Nordland, Fusa, Bringeklut from West Telemark, and mens bunad from Sunnmøre

The Idea for the Bunad Blanket came about one Christmas Eve a couple of years ago. I was sitting in the kitchen – surrounded by my girlfriend, her mother and her sister with husband. They were all wearing bunads from Setesdal. I sat in a chair while the others stood and walked around me. The abundance of colors, stripes and details where overwhelming. It hit me then, that bunads can be experienced as colors composed on a surface.

The Bunad Blanket is a new product category that encompasses recognizable aspects from the bunad tradition. Bunads are composed of color in proportion – that means compostition and disposition of surfaces. The bunad is further composed in a series of different materials and techniques such as embroidery, detail seam, pearls, wool, linen, metal and so on. The Bunad Blankets represents a simplification and transferring of the Norwegian folk costumes. The Bunad Blanket introduces this rich tradition into our daily environments and interiors.

The Bunad Blankets are developed in co-operation with Mandal Veveri and are woven from pure wool in Mandal. Mandal Veveri is a nearly 100 year old textile company, and has a young and ambitious leadership. It is the leading producer of textiles for bunads in Norway today. Mandal Veveri is owned by Stina Skeie.

The Bunad is a range of traditional Norwegian rural clothes and folk costumes with its roots dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. In Norway, it is common to wear bunad at various celebrations such as folk dances, weddings, and especially the May 17 National Day celebrations.

National romanticism still has a stronghold in Norway, and the bunad is one of the most visible and known traditions in Norwegian cultural heritage. It played a role in building national identity before and after 1905 – when Norway became independent. The bunad is a significant cultural carrier and is central to the passing on of Norwegian handicraft traditions. There are about 400 bunads and folk costumes in Norway today

The quality of the blankets has the right balance between weight and function (not too thick) and it drapes nicely. It is meant as an all-year blanket, to be used both at home and in the summer/winter cabin.